Rav 4 D4d 2002 Blocked Oil Pickup Aka Death Rattle

[rav4_2001]

Hi,

It cost me £970 and with 174k on the clock doesnt really owe me much. Anyway noticed a strange noise at 1500-2000 revs that after the engine had warmed up would disappear. Read a few forums and then read the horrible stories of blocked oil pickups in the sump due to leaky injector seals. I had no oil pressure warning lights so may have caught it in time. Dropped the sump and sure enough an oil pickup coverered in carbon deposits with about 75% blocked. Used carb cleaner and a wire brush to clean it up. Sump was free of any metal deposits so hopefully caught in the nick of time.

The true tell tale sign is to get under the car and listen to the sump while someone revs the engine to the point the noise is generated, If you have it you can clearly hear it vibrating and making the weird noise it does.

Enjot the pics and let me know if you have gone though the same to the point of turbo or complete engine failure.

Chris

[avensisd4d786]

Thank you for heads up.

can you describe this noise, does it just happen when its cold? any other tell tale signs.

[rav4_2001]

Filled it up with oil this morning and when the engine temperature gets up to normal the low oil warning light comes on. Didn't realise there are two oil warning lights so least it isn't the pressure one.

Just wondering if I disturbed the oil level in the sump pan when I had it out as did give it a bit of a wipe around. Hmmm if anyone has any experience of the oil level light coming on even though the level is ok let me know.

btw no more rattle and engine seems quieter (do hope oil is circulating).

[rav4_2001]

Sorry avensisd4d786 didn't see your response earlier! I was aware of the noise when cold so for first 5 minutes then it would go away as the oil thinned I guess and the blocked oil pickup was less of a problem. Look for the noise between 1500 and 2000 revs after 2000 it goes away. It would be an easy one to miss and I think the next warning usually when it's too late Is the oil pressure light. I just need to work out what I've done with the oil level in the pan as I mentioned before that now comes on when the engine is at normal operating temperature.

[avensisd4d786]

Sorry avensisd4d786 didn't see your response earlier! I was aware of the noise when cold so for first 5 minutes then it would go away as the oil thinned I guess and the blocked oil pickup was less of a problem. Look for the noise between 1500 and 2000 revs after 2000 it goes away. It would be an easy one to miss and I think the next warning usually when it's too late Is the oil pressure light. I just need to work out what I've done with the oil level in the pan as I mentioned before that now comes on when the engine is at normal operating temperature.

can you describe noise please

[rav4_2001]

Hi,

The noise from inside the cabin almost sounds like electrical interference so appeared each time as the revs hit 2000 before a gear change.

The best way as said before is to get someone to lay down under the sump and listen to the car as it's reved to 2000. The person under the car will hear a rattle/vibration.

This behaviour will only happen from a cold start then dissapear as the engine warms and the oil thins.

Hope this helps.

Regards

Chris

[avensisd4d786]

Thank you for your help Chris

I have the avensis, it has the same set up. I have had a noise when cold when idling, its very hard to describe but goes away if driven or when engine gets warmer.

I thought it was a bearing but have changed timing belt and pump and noise is still there.

I am wondering if its the same noise hence asking to describe it further.

[avensisd4d786]

this is on my avensis , 89491 is the oil level sesnor

[rav4_2001]

Brilliant diagram! I'm just now concerned that the gasket stayed in place on the studs for the oil pickup as don't remember seeing it on the pickup itself. That I'm sure would have triggered the oil pressure light rather than the level light as air would have been sucked in.

Think i'll stick to just changing oil in the future!

[TomdeGuerre]

great write up Chris with the photos showing the state of the oil pick up strainer. Couple of points I would make.

At 174,000 miles it’s more than likely your crankshaft bearings are getting worn. They will rattle first thing in the morning until the oil circulates through all the galleries and then they will go quiet, as said, most obvious to someone lying underneath listening around the sump area. You may also get a camshaft rattle which behaves the same way but the noise would be more obvious towards the top of the engine.

Re oil pressure warning light illuminating, you might have a leak at the suction pipe flange where it joins the engine casing. Gaskets here should automatically be renewed when you disturb them, especially after high mileage.

When you disconnect the flange joint be sure to slacken off the nuts evenly ie don’t take one nut all the way off before you even start to slacken the other. Ditto for tightening when you replace. If you introduce any distortion to that flange joint then the oil pump will preferentially draw air rather than oil and give you problems.

Be sure there isn’t an ‘O’ ring meant to be in that flange joint as well as the gasket. Parts lists don’t always show them

You would be well advised to check out the oil pump for wear when you have the sump off. For vane and gear type oil pumps it’s not always enough just to slide a feeler gauge between the lobes/gears, you often get wear and scratches on the mating surfaces which will let oil escape under pressure.

[rav4_2001]

Hi,

Thanks for the pointers. The oil pressure light works on startup then goes out which is fine, but it was the oil level light i had problems with. Just checked tonight and one of the wires was broken so soldering it together then tested successfully and the lights gone! Death rattle has now gone from the sump so it's all good.

​

If the engine or turbo goes bang i'll come and update you, but quite confident it's all ok.

[avensisd4d786]

glad its back to normal. what spec/grade oil do you use?

[Avalon]

Having done a little background reading on this the suggestion seems to be that injector seal failure is the main culprit for this, have you checked your injector values and replaced the washers/seats as you may just be treating the symptom rather than the cause?

[rav4_2001]

You are correct that copper seals were/are the fault so the gas bypass causes carbon on the injector and ultimately trapped on oil gauze as pictured. To be honest if the car wasn't refitted with aluminium seals I'm not bothered as this is a weekend runabout if that so not relied upon.

Going to take a look at the EGR valve this weekend as keen to see what it looks like after 174000 miles. Will take pics and add to this site for others.

Probably test the glow plugs next week to see how they are getting on.

Changed the gearbox oil last weekend.

Expect the cambelt will snap once all done (-;

[rav4_2001]

Couple of hours spare today so proceeded with EGR removal and clean which was quite easy although to be honest wasnt that dirty. Testing the plunger with the top of the EGR removed seemed to stick so after the cleaning it was fine.

Decided to also change the fuel filter as it was on the list of things to do. Looks like the filter had been changed before as looked to be a non toyota one.

While I had the air filter housing removed took the opportunity to clean the MAF sensor with electrical contact spray.

Road test seemed to go well with more power on hills near to where i live.

Going to test the glow plugs next weekend if weather is nice.

Chris

[Avalon]

We're working along a similar list of jobs. My car's about to hit 100k and I've already done a basic service, fuel filter, MAF and EGR clean - it really wasn't bad either. Next jobs are box fluids, coolant and brake fluid along with the variable vane system as it seems to be sticking slightly, but it's only very occasional so I'm hoping GTL/high detergent fuel and a few long runs may yield the results via carbon scavenging till I can properly clean it. One of my injectors is slightly out of spec, so having done the background reading on this I'll be dropping the sump to check the pickup sooner rather than later. It can all wait till after the MOT at the end of the month - oh and the belt is due :D

Bring back the Yaris - it ran on fumes and bugger all apart from oil and filters!

[rav4_2001]

These cars are suppose to be bullet proof or at least used to be in 80s and 90s but not anymore.

Just trying to find out about checking for injector seal leaks as this may still be happening with mine. What's the best way to check for a leak? Has anyone done a DIY seal change to the silver ones?

[Avalon]

Earlier thread suggested a new set of seals in aluminium rather than copper for all four injectors was £20 but this was for a 4.3 rather than our 4.2's. Either way if the injectors are coming out the sealing washers are being replaced and I'd be tempted to have them pattern tested, cleaned and rebuilt.

http://www.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/topic/169898-white-smoke-rough-running-d4d-22-2006-2ad-ftv/

[rav4_2001]

Hi,

Thanks for coming back and that was a useful link so just wondering now how much needs to be removed to get to them? Budget restrictions will prevent me from getting them pattern tested, but as to cleaning are they very delicate? Read a few stories about people using carb cleaner with injector connected to a Battery although have to be careful regards right voltage etc.

[avensisd4d786]

Hi,

Thanks for the pointers. The oil pressure light works on startup then goes out which is fine, but it was the oil level light i had problems with. Just checked tonight and one of the wires was broken so soldering it together then tested successfully and the lights gone! Death rattle has now gone from the sump so it's all good.

​

If the engine or turbo goes bang i'll come and update you, but quite confident it's all ok.

Hi Chris I am going to attempt the clean.

1, do I need to buy any gaskets?

2, I cannot see any sump gasket was sump sealer used? if so is there a certain one you would recommend.

3, any other tips before I start.

I await your reply and thanks again for this post